Rochester, N.Y. – The Buffalo Sabres announced today that Rochester Americans head coach Seth Appert has been promoted to assistant coach for the NHL club. Appert, who completed his third full season as Amerks head coach in 2023-24, will work alongside newly appointed head coach Lindy Ruff and his staff, which also includes former Amerks Mike Bales and Matt Ellis as well as Marty Wilford.
“I’m incredibly excited to join Lindy’s staff with the Buffalo Sabres,” said Appert. “This gives me the privilege of continuing the work we’ve been doing in Rochester over the last four years in moving our organization forward to where we all want it to be.”
“I’m grateful for my four years in Rochester,” added Appert. “I’ve loved being an Amerk. I’m thankful for our fan base and the players and coaches we’ve been able to build a family atmosphere with. Let’s go Amerks!”
“One of my top priorities over the last few weeks has been finalizing the hires and roles of the coaching staff,” said Ruff. After conversations with Seth, he reaffirmed what I already knew – he is ready for this opportunity. As we move into next season, I am thrilled with the staff we have assembled, and the work has already begun to prepare for training camp and the entirety of the season ahead.”
Appert posted a 123-94-22-10 record in his four seasons with the Amerks, leading the team to three straight 30-plus win seasons as well as three consecutive playoff appearances, including an historic run to the Eastern Conference Final in 2023 as part of the team’s deepest postseason run in nearly 20 years. He was 15-14 in 29 career playoff games.
The 2023-24 campaign saw Appert become just seventh the head coach in franchise history to reach 100 career wins and be behind the bench for more than 200 games with Rochester. His 123 coaching victories rank fourth all-time.
In his four seasons as Rochester’s head coach, Appert oversaw the development of some Buffalo’s top prospects, most notably forwards Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka in 2021-22 followed by Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen over the last two years.
During the 2022-23 campaign, Appert was responsible for the development of the two of the league’s most dynamic scorers in rookie forwards Quinn and Peterka, both of whom would later be named to the AHL’s All-Rookie Team and Quinn earning the honors as the league’s Most Outstanding Rookie. Both also made their National Hockey League debuts with the Buffalo Sabres in 2021-22, representing two of 14 different Amerks to appear in at least one game with the big club.
The 2022-23 season saw the emergence of Kulich and Rosen as the top two prospects in the Buffalo Sabres organization. Kulich, in particular, was named to the AHL’s inaugural Top Prospects Team for the 2022-23 season after putting together one of the most productive seasons ever by an 18-year-old. He led the Amerks and finished tied for sixth amongst all AHL rookies with 24 goals while his 46 points were tied for 11th among first-year players.
The 2023-24 campaign saw both forwards reach the 20-goal mark, with Kulich becoming the first Amerk to lead the team in goals in back-to-back seasons since Jody Gage in 1991-92 and 1992-93. The pair also made their NHL debuts together earlier this season back on Nov. 25 against the New Jersey Devils.
“Seth should be immensely proud of the culture he has built in Rochester and the success that has come with it,” said Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams. “While his addition to the NHL coaching staff is a loss in Rochester, there is no doubt he has earned this position. Under his leadership, the Amerks have had tremendous results as a team, and he has also played a significant role in the development of a number of NHL players.
We will begin a search for his replacement in Rochester immediately.”
CHRIS TAYLOR-bring back Chris Taylor, he did a great job here before & would make alot of us fans happy for having him back as coach
many old time fans will contest that Taylor never did much at all in the post season. But, yeah he was pretty popular. I wonder if Sabres will go outside the organization this time too.
I definitely do not want to see Taylor as head coach. I think Appert is a much better coach than Taylor ever was. Actually, Taylor had had loaded veteran teams that had good regular season success but never even won a single playoff game! Appert has in 3 real seasons all things considered had good success with very youthful teams (granted talented too but the youthfulness last year and in 2022 often equates to not Winning teams in the AHL). His 5-1 record when facing elimination in the playoffs with such young teams is very impressive! I think had Kulich been even half as productive offensively this year as he was in last years playoffs Amerks would have beaten Syracuse, especially considering the crunch only regulation victory against the Amerks came in game 5! Honestly, Seth Appert imo is the only good coach the Amerks have had this century! I think Cunneyworth and Taylor were both great Amerk players but not very good coaches! Appert will be hard to replace, something to fantasize about that will never happen is John Tortorella gets fired from the Flyers and the Sabres and Torts both agree Amerks job is a perfect fit!
Casey Middlestadt & Tage Thompson both give Chris Taylor alot of credit for helping develop their game, but it doesn’t matter as long as inept kevyn adams remains the gm of the sabres, this team needs a few more vets to help the young players, unfortunately this team has not been a serious calder cup candidate since the donner years & 28 years & counting since the last time the Amerks won the cup. easiest yearly prediction is that once again the sabres will be soft & not make playoffs, especially with Florida, Boston, Toronto, Tampa Bay & Detroit in the same division & better than them